Impaired Autonomic Nervous System Habituation in Those at Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia

Hollister, J. Meggin; Mednick, Sarnoff A.; Brennan, Patricia A.; Cannon, Tyrone D.

doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1994.03950070044009

Cited by 31 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The current habituation findings parallel those of previous studies examining autonomic response habituation to less intense, orienting stimuli (Depue and Fowles, 1973;Gruzelier et al, 1981;Hollister et al, 1994), as well as previous measures of startle response habituation in schizophrenia using different methodologies (e.g., Geyer and Braff, 1982;Braff et al, 1992. Sensorimotor gating and prepulse inhibition paradigms are by far the most common means of investigating the startle reflex in schizophrenia.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Psychophysiological studies primarily using EEG or skin conductance orienting response (SCOR) paradigms have consistently demonstrated higher resting rates of arousal, but lowered responsivity to orienting and other moderately intense stimuli in patients with schizophrenia (Venables, 1966;Venables and Wing, 1962;Dawson et al, 1992, Olbrich et al, 2001. Consistent with these findings are studies that have demonstrated reduced autonomic habituation, as assessed by electrodermal activity, to a repeatedly presented sensory stimulus (e.g., Depue and Fowles, 1973;Gruzelier et al, 1981;Hollister et al, 1994). These findings have demonstrated that schizophrenic patients show irregular response patterns over time that result in slower rates of habituation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

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The startle reflex in schizophrenia: habituation and personality correlates

Akdag

Nestor

O’Donnell

et al. 2003

Schizophrenia Research

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Schizophrenia has long been associated with abnormal patterns of arousal that are thought to reflect disturbances in the reticular-activating system of the brain. Psychophysiological investigations of sensory responsivity have repeatedly demonstrated reduced reactivity and habituation to moderately intense stimuli in patients with schizophrenia. While not traditionally used as a measure of physiological arousal, the startle reflex represents an alternative method for studying reactivity and habituation in schizophrenia. This study examined eye blink responsivity to a repeatedly presented intense acoustic startle probe in men with chronic schizophrenia and healthy normal controls. Subjects' personality profiles were also measured, as increased reactivity and arousal have been traditionally implicated as a physiological component to the personality trait of neuroticism. Results indicated that schizophrenic subjects did demonstrate significantly reduced rates of habituation to the acoustic startle probe and higher scores on measures of neuroticism in comparison to normal controls. However, no correlation between habituation rate and neuroticism emerged. These studies replicate previous findings of habituation in schizophrenia and provide further evidence for sensory reactivity disturbances in schizophrenia. The relationship of these findings to cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia is considered and directions for future research are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The startle reflex in schizophrenia: habituation and personality correlates

Akdag

Nestor

O’Donnell

et al. 2003

Schizophrenia Research

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“…Later studies have confirmed the presence of failure of habituation of autonomic nervous system activity and abnormal skin conductance in patients and individuals either genetically or clinically at risk. 107,108 In another study, Mednick and colleagues found that early environmental enrichment was associated with improved psychophysiologic orienting and arousal mechanisms 6-8 years later in children, demonstrating that these variables, although being at least partly genetic in origin, could be ameliorated through early intervention. 109 More prospective longitudinal studies of at-risk and prodromal individuals are currently needed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could Stress Cause Psychosis in Individuals Vulnerable to Schizophrenia?

Corcoran¹,

Mujica‐Parodi²,

Yale³

et al. 2002

CNS spectr.

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It has long been considered that psychosocial stress plays a role in the expression of symptoms in schizophrenia (SZ), as it interacts with latent neural vulnerability that stems from genetic liability and early environmental insult. Advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of the stress cascade in both animal and human studies lead to a plausible model by which this interaction may occur: through neurotoxic effects on the hippocampus that may involve synaptic remodeling. Of late, the neurodevelopmental model of SZ etiology has been favored. But an elaboration of this schema that credits the impact of postnatal events and considers a role for neurodegenerative changes may be more plausible, given the evidence for gene-environment interaction in SZ expression and progressive structural changes observed with magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, new insights into nongliotic neurotoxic effects such as apoptosis, failure of neurogenesis, and changes in circuitry lead to an expansion of the time frame in which environmental effects may mediate expression of SZ symptoms.

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“…NSSCR frequency ranged from 0 to 9.79 spontaneous responses per minute with the distribution skewed to the right, as over one third of the sample (36.9%, n = 45) evidenced no NSSCRs (mode frequency = 0) during the instruction period. This percentage of nonresponding subjects is over three times the rate reported in normal, presumably non drug using, samples (Davis, 1988;Venables & Mitchell, 1996) and approaches frequencies of electrodermal nonresponsivity (40%) found in samples of patients with schizophrenia (see reviews by Hollister, Mednick, Brennan, & Cannon, 1994;Katsanis & Iacono, 1994). Bivariate analysis of the relationship between the two measures of PR (RAS and NSSCR) revealed a nonsigni cant correlation in the sample as a whole (r = .14, p = n.s.)…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Perceptual Reactance, Drug Preference, and Electrodermal Activity in Treatment-Seeking Substance Abusers

Compton

2000

Issues in Mental Health Nursing

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Perceptual reactance (PR) was explored as a contributing variable to drug abuse. PR is defined as the general tendency of an individual's central nervous system to perceptually modulate incoming sensory stimuli. Using an adaptive model of drug use, it was hypothesized that drug preference in substance abusers would vary with PR. Specifically, perceptual reducers, who subjectively dampen afferent sensation, would prefer experience-expanding drugs (i.e., cocaine and amphetamines) to heighten perception. Conversely, perceptual augmenters would prefer sensory-restricting drugs (i.e., opioids and sedative-hypnotics) that attenuate or modulate environmental stimuli. Utilizing subjective (Reducing-Augmenting Scale) and objective (electrodermal responses) measures of PR, the relationship was tested in a sample of treatment-seeking substance abusers (n = 122). The sample was stratified on whether or not they were abstinent. Interestingly, a higher than anticipated rate of electrodermal non-responsivity was found across the sample and the implications of this finding are discussed. The study hypothesis was only supported in the electrodermally-responsive group.

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Impaired Autonomic Nervous System Habituation in Those at Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia

Abstract: These results suggest that impaired habituation of spontaneous autonomic nervous system activity may represent a behavioral marker of the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia.

Cited by 31 publications

References 39 publications

The startle reflex in schizophrenia: habituation and personality correlates

The startle reflex in schizophrenia: habituation and personality correlates

Could Stress Cause Psychosis in Individuals Vulnerable to Schizophrenia?

Perceptual Reactance, Drug Preference, and Electrodermal Activity in Treatment-Seeking Substance Abusers

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